Bombs Bats and Riddles
by Imaginationqueen87
Summary: The NCIS team is called to an investigation in Gotham City which is complicated when one of their own seems to be the target of a person or group that would stop at nothing to see them dead. What can a fed do when he has to rely on a vigilante to help him
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Do not own N.C.I.S or The Batman

**Bombs, Bats and Riddles**

The N.C.I.S agents were investigating a location in Gotham City when Ziva came across a bomb.

"Oh shit…" Ziva said she sent the team an order to run, but she didn't manage to get far before it went off

"Ziva…" Gibbs yelled

"Where is she?" Tony asked

"She… she was still inside…" Gibbs said out of breath

"What, no… no, this can't be happening, we can't lose Ziva too," Timothy McGee said a feeling of dread seemed to wash over the team.

"We might not have lost her," Gibbs said as he saw Ziva stagger from the wreckage

"Ziva…" Tony ran to her side

"Tony… I cannot believe that I am still alive"

Emergency rescue was called and Ziva was taken to the emergency room.

"She was damn lucky, Agent Gibbs, any closer to that bomb and she probably wouldn't have made it at all," a medic said

"I don't think she was alone in there," Commissioner Jim Gordon said

"Why do you say that?" Gibbs asked

"Because this city supposedly has a guardian of the night… whatever that means," a medic said

"He's talking about the Batman," Gordon explained

"I need to check on Agent David," Gibbs said shortly

"She would probably be at Gotham General Hospital"

"Commissioner Gordon, do they need an escort to the hospital?" an Asian detective asked

"Yes, Detective Yin, but I'm surprised you're volunteering"

"Well I have nothing better to do, Jones is better at bomb scenes than I am and isn't he leading on this one?" Ellen Yin asked

"Yes, Gibbs, Detective Yin will show you the way to the hospital where your agent is being treated" Gordon said

"Thank you Detective," Gibbs said. They started to their vehicles and were soon at the hospital.

Gibbs was first into the emergency room and was able to find out very little as little was known about her condition.

The doctor came out and went to talk to Gibbs.

"Well, Agent Gibbs, she has a concussion and from what I can tell there is some acoustic trauma to both ears, but I cannot tell if it will affect her hearing at this point."

"Do you think she will have to resign as a field agent?"

"I cannot tell at this time, we will have to let the concussion heal a bit before I can make any assumptions to her future at N.C.I.S, right now she's lucky to be alive"

Gibbs sighed wondering if a certain bat might have had a hand in saving his agent's life

Gibbs went outside with his coffee, trying to fit pieces of the puzzle together.

"Agent Gibbs, I know this is difficult to make sense of, I've tried, but believe me, Batman has a way of figuring out when and where he is needed, and who needs to know about him." Ellen said

"I wish I knew if he did save my agent"

"Why…"

"I'd thank him, that's why… I already lost female agent to a madman, I don't want to lose another," Gibbs took a sip of his coffee

"If I may ask, what happened?" Ellen asked

"She was shot in the head by a terrorist sniper," Gibbs said "tore my team to pieces, and all I could think about was revenge. Ziva came in on the heels of the other agent's funeral"

"It's hard to deal with the loss of one of your own when you suddenly get a new person thrown into your ranks," Yin observed

"Well, Ziva is a great agent, her aim rivals my own and I am a trained sniper" Gibbs said "and a Marine Gunnery Sergeant"

"That is saying something about her," Gordon said from where he stood near Ellen

Batman looked into the window at where Ziva David now lay resting. He didn't know her name, but he knew she was N.C.I.S… and even if she hadn't been, he would have lent her aid. Unfortunately he hadn't gotten to her quick enough; luckily she had been able to see the bomb and start running in time to get far enough away that all she got was a concussion and some relatively minor injuries… all in all she would be fine.

Batman left the ledge he was sitting on and continued on his patrol, he knew there was nothing more he could do here.

Ziva David was currently resting; Commissioner Gordon had assigned uniformed guards at her room 24/7.

"I can't believe we almost lost Ziva," Tony said

"You're telling me, I was having a déjà vu feeling… but when she came out I honestly didn't think my knees were gonna hold me up," McGee chimed

"Jeez Probie, be a man"

"Tony, you didn't look like you were doing to hot when we thought Ziva had died in that explosion." McGee pointed out

"Okay, you got me there, I didn't want her to have to die in an explosion, I mean, victims of explosions, they are never recognizable by looking, and I didn't want to have to id her by dental records or something like that" Tony said

"Really Tony…"

"Yes, really" Tony replied

Gibbs arrived at the hotel

"Guys you have to realize she may have hearing loss"

"But that can be dealt with, right?" Tony asked

"Yes, but if her inner ear is damaged to where throws off her balance she may have to quit doing field work, or worse yet, retire from N.C.I.S"

"All we can do is pray that she has minimal damage to her ear," McGee said

"Best case scenario, no permanent damage, second best, she needs a hearing aid and those can be so discreet that only she, her doctor the director, Ducky and I will know that she has it." Gibbs said

"Won't Eli David find out?" Tony asked

"Well, yeah, Tony, he'll find out, she is his daughter, and personally, I almost pity the moron that put that bomb in there, almost." Gibbs said

"Well, Boss, I guess we need to get some rest, tomorrow is going to be busy"

"Yep, it is" Gibbs replied

"Just one question" McGee asked

"What is that, McGee?" Gibbs said a little frustrated with the whole deal

"Who is going to tell Abby about Ziva?"

"I am" Gibbs responded, "I'm team leader after all"

"She takes bad news better from Gibbs." Tony said

"Good point"

Gibbs groaned

"I have to call her and tell her this before we go to bed… maybe I can catch her before she leaves the lab for the…"

McGee's cell phone began to ring.

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

Abby sighed; Gibbs hadn't called her so she decided she would call one of them. McGee answered the phone

"McGee, is everything okay? I haven't heard from Gibbs"

"Everything is fine, Abby, we were about to get some sleep"

"Okay" Abby replied unaware how big a lie that was

"We'll see you when we get back Abby"

"Bye McGee"

"Bye Abby"

McGee hung up

"Good work, Chicken Little, now you'll be in some severe trouble with Abby, you know you just broke rule one" Tony said

"I didn't screw over my partner," Tim said

"Not my rule one, hers… never lie to Abby" Gibbs groaned

"Damn, I really fell in it this time" McGee muttered

"Yeah Probie you did" Tony sighed

"I don't care who fell in what, it's time to get some sleep," Gibbs groaned

The next morning Gibbs went to the hospital early to check on Ziva.

"Well, Miss David is improving by the minute, but I do fear that her hearing might have been effected." The nurse said, "We have come to the conclusion that her equilibrium problems were due to the initial trauma of the explosion as she has since been able to regain enough equilibrium to safely sit up and should be able to walk soon"

"Good, does the doctor think I'll be losing a field agent?"

"No, I think your field team will remain intact, but I do recommend that she have a hearing test be done once the concussion has healed to make sure she doesn't need a hearing device"

"That can be arranged, I'm just glad that she is alive and will recover" Gibbs said

Abby was watching Z.N.N that morning when she heard about the explosion. She made a growling noise and grabbed her phone and immediately called Gibbs

"What's wrong Abby?"

"What's wrong? McGee lied to me, what do you think is wrong? Why didn't he tell me about the explosion? Was anyone hurt"

"I don't know why he didn't tell you and unfortunately Ziva was hurt, but she'll be fine"

"Gibbs, can you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is, Abby"

"Next time you see McGee, head slap him for me... hard."

"Okay Abs I'll do that" Gibbs grinned

Gibbs went to check on Ziva and found her awake and sitting up in bed.

"Hello Gibbs" Ziva said

"Is something bothering you, Ziva?"

"Besides the fact that they obviously do not understand that I am Jewish and therefore do not eat pork. My head hurts, I am bored and getting annoyed, other than that nothing"

"Easy, Ziva I will talk to the head nurse about this see what can be arranged. The headache is the concussion and the boredom… you can watch television, or I can get you a book"

"Reading hurts my head"

"Okay, I'll get it on tape; my first concern is the whole food issue."

Gibbs left Ziva's hospital room and went to the nurse's station.

"Excuse me, who is the head nurse for this area?"

"That would be me, what seems to be the problem?" a kindly woman said

"It's about Ziva David, she is Jewish and does not eat pork, and by the way she talks she has been given pork in one of her meals." Gibbs said

"Somehow that detail never got placed in Miss David's file, I am terribly sorry about that. I will add that immediately and make sure that no pork products are placed in her meals. Thank you for bringing this to my attention" she said placing a good-sized notice in Ziva's file to make her religious dietary requirements obvious to anyone who looked in the file. This made Gibbs quite happy.

"I will also personally apologize to Miss David we never intended any disrespect to her. The change will also be brought to her attention so she'll know that it should never happen again as long as she is in our care."

"She'll appreciate that, I know I would" Gibbs smiled

The head nurse went to Ziva's room to give her the information and apologize for the mistakes that were made in her file and her meals.

Gibbs left the hospital content that Ziva was taken care of, and met up with McGee and Tony. He slapped McGee over the back of the head on the way in the door.

"What was that for, Boss?" McGee asked

"Abby asked me to do that… it was for lying to her"

"Oh crap, why do I feel like I that is only the tip of the iceberg"

"It probably is" Tony said from where he sat reading a newspaper

Commissioner Gordon walked up to the office where they were working.

"Agent Gibbs, I know you're an agent short so I was wondering if you needed any help… I have a detective that has been with this unit for a while; she might be able to give you some insight into this town"

"Boss, we could use all the help we can get" McGee said

"McGee has a point; let's see what she can do" Gibbs said

Detective Yin arrived a little while later and joined the N.C.I.S team and they began to get to work

"Gibbs, do you think the death of this marine might have something to do with whoever planted the bomb that hurt your teammate," Yin asked from sitting at her desk

"Yes, only I think it was intended to kill us, not just hurt us" Gibbs said

"How is Ziva doing, by the way?" Tony asked curiously

"She'll be okay" Gibbs replied

Ellen sighed, she understood that they didn't really trust her, but she was a cop for pity's sake, she should have some benefit of the doubt or something.

Gibbs pulled Yin aside

"Yin, I have some special rules that I have placed for my team and I can think of two that you really need to know and those are three and nine"

"What are they?" Ellen asked

"Three is never be unreachable, nine is always carry a knife, I'll tell you more of them as the need arises"

"Okay" Ellen shrugged

Gibbs began to hand out orders assigning Yin to work with McGee on some evidence that didn't seem to make a lot of sense.

"It's a riddle, but it doesn't seem to have a relevant point. 'The eight of us move forth not back to protect our king from a foe's attack?'" McGee said

"Chess pawns" Ellen said

"Huh?" McGee looked confused

"The answer to the riddle is chess pawns."

"Yeah… I think so too, but I think I know someone that could prove us right."

McGee picked up his cell phone and called someone"

"Ducky, I have a riddle I was hoping you could tell me the answer to."

"I'll see what I can do Timothy"

"'The eight of us move forth not back, to protect our king from a foe's attack'"

"It sounds like your riddle is talking about chess pawns."

"That's what I thought… thanks Ducky,"

"No problem"

McGee hung up

"Ducky…" Ellen gave Tim a questioning glance

"His name is Donald Mallard, 'Ducky' is a nickname that he insists that we call him."

Meanwhile Jethro Gibbs was talking with Bruce Wayne, he had been around when the original murder took place.

"Like I told the detectives, I didn't really see much… I heard someone yell so I went to see what was going on" Bruce explained, "When I got there whatever happened had already happened. I did what I knew to do to make sure everyone was okay, including calling 911."

"That has been confirmed, boss, Wayne was one of four that called 911 for that event, and he was the most helpful, seems the billionaire bachelor knows how to keep a cool head in a crisis," DiNozzo confirmed

"What can I say, I have to run a corporation; I'm used to handling crisis" Bruce shrugged

"Wayne Enterprises started by Thomas Wayne," DiNozzo said

After Gibbs left, Bruce went down to the bat cave and began to look into the crime. He checked the security around Agent Ziva David; he wanted to make sure that whoever planted the bomb didn't try to finish the job.

He discovered that the security was fine and she was just getting lunch.

"Something isn't right…" Bruce thought aloud

"Pardon, sir"

"I was checking in on Ziva David and something doesn't seem right"

"Oh, the N.C.I.S agent that was injured in that explosion"

"Yes, Alfred…"

"Sir, if I may be so bold, maybe you should go check on her yourself, her teammates are at Gotham PD," Alfred suggested

"Yes, but they won't trust me with the information."

"They may not trust Bruce Wayne, but they might trust Batman, we know Gordon will"

"I'll go this evening and talk to Gordon"

That night Bruce put on cape and cowl and went to the Gotham PD precinct.

"Commissioner Gordon, I wanted to check in about the N.C.I.S agent that was injured in the explosion"

"I'm afraid I have very little I can tell you Batman, not without authorization from N.C.I.S and I really doubt they will authorize me to tell you anything about their agent" Gordon said, he wanted to give Batman the information he sought, it was obvious that something was eating the dark knight from inside

"Commissioner Gordon, its Gibbs"

"Come in Gibbs"

Gibbs walked in curious as to why the window was open.

"Why is the window open?"

"I was letting in a little fresh air" Gordon replied

"Okay"

That evening Gibbs was leaving the precinct when a figure in a cape and cowl approached him.

"Let me guess, you're The Batman" Gibbs said

"Yes, Agent Gibbs, and I wanted to check about Agent David"

"Might I ask why?" Gibbs wondered

"I feel it was partially my fault that she was hurt"

"Did you plant that bomb?"

"No, but had I known it was there it would not have gone off… that or I would have gotten her out before it did" Batman said

"You can't be certain that you would have been able to do that," Gibbs sighed "and I don't think it wise to give you information about my agent, I don't know you and I don't know that you are telling the truth when you say that you would save her instead of kill her."

Gibbs looked up as a siren passed and he looked back to find that Batman was gone.

To Be Continued….


	3. Chapter 3

Batman went to Gotham Hospital to try, and find out anything that would ease his mind about Agent David. Then he noticed someone trying to break the window to her hospital room. They instantly stopped when a batarang soared by their head.

"What… oh no, it's The Batman! I'm not getting paid enough for this!" the thug groaned

Batman said nothing just made sure that Gordon got the person that was trying to break into Ziva's hospital room.

"Why would you be at that hospital room?" Gibbs asked

"Checking, something isn't right in that hospital." Batman said

"My gut has been telling me the same thing" Gibbs added "I don't know why, but something just seemed wrong about that hospital"

"Well security being tightened as we speak, and as soon as she can be released she will be relocated to a place outside of the city the place has up to the minute security and a detective staying there with her 24/7" Gordon said.

"Gordon we both know that we have to be extra careful. I want to know how you know that he didn't put that bomb…" Gibbs pointed at Batman

"Gibbs, I have told you that Batman just brought in a man that was trying to break in the window to Ziva's room, security footage proves that the guy was trying to get in"

"I don't kill, especially not federal agents," Batman said, "although I can understand why you would think that I would, you have never worked with me, but right now all I am is…"

"A vigilante…"Gibbs offered

"That I may be, but so far I have been able to get in places the police couldn't and ended hostage situations without a casualty," Batman said

"Yes, that he has done" Gordon said

"Okay, I'll give you what I know, if you give me what you know"

"Deal"

"Well currently, Ziva David has a concussion and her hearing might be permanently damaged, but other than that, no permanent injuries" Gibbs said "she will recover and return to work"

"Okay, currently I have caught one guy trying to break into the hospital room where you're agent is, but he was just a flunky, got the mission by phone and the money was wired from a foreign account." Batman said

"Yeah, so whoever is after my agents is still out there" Gibbs looked angry and frankly neither Batman nor Gordon could blame him for it.

"It looks like they're only after Agent David" Batman sighed

"So it may be someone she came across as a Mossad officer…" Gibbs said

"Mossad…" Gordon gave Gibbs a strange look

"Yes, Mossad, she was trained with Mossad before she was N.C.I.S" Gibbs explained what Mossad was to Gordon, he didn't have to tell Batman, he seemed to already know.

"So she has enemies from both" Batman interjected

"Yes, meaning we have no idea who is orchestrating this or why for that matter" Gibbs said rather angry at the whole situation.

"Gibbs I know you're angry, but getting frustrated like this won't help Ziva," Gordon said

"We need extra security," Gibbs said

Gibbs turned to Batman to find that he was gone.

"Damn…"

"Yeah, he does that" Gordon sighed, "still surprises me how fast he can vanish."

"What is he going to do?"

"That, is a good question, but I know that whatever he does, it will be to help this investigation"

"How are you so certain?"

"I've worked with him for a while now, Gibbs, if there is anything he's good at, it's bringing an investigation to a close with very few injuries to others around him. Now he may take hell, but he doesn't care, and that confuses me."

"That he is so willing to take injuries to himself to make sure criminals are punished… I just wonder what brought him to this"

"Who knows…?"

Gordon looked at Gibbs and noticed that he seemed to be mentally taking stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, McGee and Tony were arguing over something, Ellen Yin had decided to just watch this play out and see where the argument ended up.

"Do you really think that would ever happen, Probie?" Tony asked

Abby Sciuto was frustrated with the not knowing anything about the team so she asked if it would be okay if she went to Gotham. To her surprise, Vance agreed to allow her to take off and go to Gotham.

Abby arrived in Gotham City and soon checked in with Gibbs.

"Abby, what the hell are you doing in Gotham?" Gibbs demanded

"I got tired of being out of the loop, I wanted to know what was going on" Abby replied

"Abby, you know that I was going to give you information as soon as I had it." Gibbs said

"Well I was tired of waiting for answers, I wanted to be here"

"Okay, Abs, I'll see if I can't get you clearance at the precinct so you can be there with us where it's safe"

"Where it's safe, you think someone will come after me?" Abby asked nervously

"I don't know and I'd rather have you safe than in Gotham General Hospital next to Ziva… or on Ducky's table" Gibbs said

Gibbs and Abby got to the precinct to find that Ellen Yin had broken up a dispute between Tony and McGee.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Gibbs said "Yin, give me the story"

Ellen recapped the events that happened while Gibbs was picking up Abby.

"DiNozzo, since when was it right for you to blame your mistakes on McGee?"

Tony said nothing, Gibbs had a point; it wasn't McGee's fault for that screw up.

Abby was surprised to see a police detective working with the N.C.I.S team.

"I'm Abby Sciuto, forensic scientist for N.C.I.S"

"Detective Ellen Yin, Gotham PD"

"Well detective, it's good to meet…"

A young girl ran down the corridor at a good clip.

"Barbra, what have you been told about running in the precinct?" Ellen said

"Oh, sorry, Detective Yin" Barbra said, and continued on her way at a slower pace

"What is a child doing here?" Gibbs asked

"She's Commissioner Gordon's daughter, and she's often around here. She knows where she is allowed to be and where she isn't" Yin explained "She's working on getting her driver's license so it isn't like she's that young."

"Okay… from one topic to another, what information can you give me about The Batman?" Gibbs asked

"Not a lot about his identity if that's what you want" Yin replied, "Although I have worked with The Batman on occasion."

"Tell me what you can about what he does."

"Okay" Ellen said and began to explain what she had experienced with Batman in the past. Then her radio started to sound off

"ALL UNITS THERE HAS BEEN A BREAK IN AT GOTHAM GENERAL HOSPITAL, BE ADVISED SUBJECT IS ARMED AND DANGEROUS"

"Ziva…!"

To Be Continued…


	4. Chapter 4

A/n: this chapter is for Gingerstorm101 and StarKiss666 thank you for your faithful and wonderful reviews. I'm glad you enjoy this story and hope that this chapter and those that follow don't disappoint

Batman was the first to respond, and was there within seconds with Robin, Batgirl was not far behind.

"What is going on?" Batgirl asked, "Why did we have to rush here?"

"There is an N.C.I.S agent being treated here, she has a concussion and may have ear damage… we need to keep a watch over her room just in case someone tries to hurt her" Batman stated "there is a possibility that she might not hear a subtle noise, like someone coming in until it is too late"

"Okay, should someone take stakeout at her room?" Batgirl asked

They went to Ziva's room and the guard was not at his post.

"Shit!" Batman cursed at a whisper so his two sidekicks couldn't hear.

They went inside and Ziva was still there, it was as if she had heard nothing of the events around her.

"Agent David…"

Ziva turned having heard Batman's deep voice.

"Who are you?"

"We've had a break-in here… I'm trying to make sure no one hurts you, we believe whoever did this is specifically after you." Batman explained

"Wait, you still have not told me who you are" Ziva said and attempted to stand

"Agent David, that doesn't matter, but if you want the truth, I am the Batman…"

Then a gunman tried to sneak in… Batman expected Ziva to realize the man was entering but she didn't indicate that she noticed it at all. He had done research when he heard she was Mossad, learned that she was a trained assassin and was once a control officer. He figured that she would be capable of locating even him.

(P.O.V Batman)

I figured when she didn't respond to me that she might have been asleep, but when she didn't respond to the gunman's entrance I knew something wasn't right, and it had nothing to do with the concussion. I knew that she was not safe here.

"We need to get her out of here; it isn't safe; her hearing is compromised." I whispered to Robin and Batgirl

Robin didn't seem to understand why I said what I did, but Batgirl got the message.

I dispatched with the gunman and discovered that he was just another hired hand.

That was when I realized what needed to be done.

(Third Person)

Gordon was stunned to hear that Ziva David was no longer in the hospital. He sent up the Bat signal and Batman responded

"Agent David is no longer in her room and Gibbs doesn't know what to do with himself and Director Vance is likely to run me over the coals… frankly I can't blame either one of them."

"Her safety was compromised; I could not leave her in an area so exposed."

"You couldn't… you took her from the hospital?" Gordon was stunned

"She is still receiving medical care as if she was in the hospital, but she is in a secret location where her safety can be assured. I will release her once I am sure that doing so isn't putting her life in jeopardy."

"Did you at least get her consent before you to took her from the hospital?"

"Yes" Batman said simply "I would never take a federal agent anywhere without her consent… and I doubt I could with this particular agent, according to what I've read about Agent David she has the capability of taking on up to 5 men at once and winning. I somehow get the feeling that if I were to try to take her on alone I'd get hurt."

Meanwhile Ziva was in the cave with Robin and Batgirl; she was resting comfortably at this point.

"I wish I knew exactly why Batman wanted us to move her from the hospital." Robin wondered

"Maybe he figured here would be safer, I mean come on… no one knows that this place even exists outside of the team" Batgirl pointed out, "and since it seems someone is after her this may be the best place for her."

"You have a point, so we just wait for Batman to return"

"I think so, she's asleep right now, so everything should be okay," Batgirl said

Batman returned to the cave, it had been hard to convince Gordon and Gibbs that taking Ziva from the hospital was a good idea. She was recovering nicely from her concussion and soon her hearing would probably need to be tested. He was hoping that by that time things would be safe.

Gibbs rubbed his temples; he couldn't believe he had trusted the safety of one of his best agents to a masked vigilante. He knew that Gordon and Yin both trusted Batman fully and if what The Batman said was true then Ziva agreed to leave the hospital and go with him to wherever he had her.

"Gibbs, what is that famous gut telling you about the Batman?" Abby asked

"Honestly, I think we should trust him, but at this point I wish I could talk to him personally" Gibbs said

"Why don't you ask Gordon how he gets in touch with Batman? Gordon has to have some way to let Batman know that he's needed." Abby suggested

Gibbs walked to Gordon's office

"Gordon I was wondering how I would get in touch with Batman"

"I should have shown you this sooner, the last time you saw him he sought you out, now it's time for me to teach you how to get his attention." Gordon said, "Follow me"

They got to the roof and Gibbs became quite confused

"A spotlight…"

"It's a signal, when you turn it on it puts a light in the sky with a bat symbol in the center, Batman will come up to this roof. Fair warning, he likes to sneak up on you."

"I'd love to see him try" Gibbs smiled

"We'll see"

Gordon left the roof and Gibbs briefly considered not contacting Batman. Then he turned on the signal.

"I wasn't expecting you, Agent Gibbs," Batman said from behind Gibbs

"What's the old saying, expect the unexpected"

"If you are wondering about Agent David, she is resting at this point"

"I was wondering what brought you to move my agent from the hospital"

"Like I told Gordon, her life was in danger" Batman replied

"I would like speak with my agent make sure what you said is true about her having consented to go with you" Gibbs said

"That can be done; I would have arranged it sooner had you asked"

"Okay, I'm asking now" Gibbs did his best to look Batman in the eye.

After a short conversation with Ziva David, he was certain that she was safe and had given Batman her consent to be taken from the hospital. There was no duress involved in getting her to leave.

Batman returned to the cave and checked on Ziva.

"Why did you want to get me out of the hospital?" Ziva asked

"I didn't think that you were safe, there was no way to really secure that window, and it wouldn't be the first time that someone tried to get at you through that window, and no offense I do not think that you hearing is up to what it was before the explosion."

Ziva said nothing just gave him a hard glare that told him she didn't appreciate that statement, as true as they both figured it was.

Ziva was relaxing in a newly set up bed that kept her in the batcave where Batman figured it was safe for her to be. She was never alone in the cave; one of the team members was always there with her.

Alfred came in on occasion, but didn't interact with her usually those that did were Batman, Batgirl, or occasionally Robin. She had figured out that Robin was the youngest of the bunch; Batgirl was closer to his age than she was Batman's and Batman was the oldest of the three, probably the one that founded the team to begin with.

Gibbs still didn't like the fact that he didn't know where Ziva was, but he was convinced that wherever she was she was at least okay. Batman had assured him on several occasions that Ziva was never left alone wherever she was. Gibbs figured that Batgirl and Robin often stayed behind with Ziva. He questioned Robin's ability to do much to defend that place, but Batgirl had proven that she was tougher than she looked. She was good in a pinch and a fast thinker… she never let her size get in her way, she just used it to her advantage. She used her brains more than brawn.

Robin was fast at moving, but not so much at thinking… not like Batgirl anyway, he could be a loose cannon on occasion, but it was clear Batman knew how to keep him focused on the task at hand.

Batgirl was very good at keeping on task, and keeping things together. She was also quite the acrobat.

Ziva David was sitting up on the edge of the bed, she was in regular clothes, and very bored.

"Are you okay?" Batgirl asked

"I am fine, just quite bored," Ziva replied "I feel a lot better if that is what you want to know."

Batman had just returned to the cave, fully aware that they needed to test Ziva's hearing to know definitively if his hunch about her hearing was correct.

"Ziva, there is something I feel needs to be done before you think about rejoining your team."

"And what is that?" Ziva asked

"Checking to make sure that blast didn't damage your hearing… I can do that here, but if I find that it has been damaged, I would implore you to go to a specialist and get their opinion as to if you need a hearing aid or not."

Ziva sighed; she should have known that this would come up, after being that close to the center of a blast could cause permanent damage. She had been lucky back in Israel but this time it seemed it was not to be the same.

They set up and ran the test and Batman didn't seem to like the results, the quieter sounds went unheard by her, he had read that she had been in another blast in the past and feared that this second one had just built up more damage to what was already done. She didn't seem to have two lucky strikes in her.

To be Continued…


End file.
